


Black Velvet

by Sylverstia



Series: Hanging by a thread [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Flashbacks, Hurt/Comfort, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-06-25 21:23:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19754062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylverstia/pseuds/Sylverstia
Summary: There are five months of memory missing from 60's mind.But are they really gone?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sh. i know i have a ton of other fics to work on.  
> But, Nights In White Satin was SO overwhelmingly well received that i really really wanted to give you all a follow up of it.  
> And here it is.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it, comments are welcome and appreciated :D

The sensors came back online with a barrage of errors. It was like getting shot all over again. Bullet holes he was familiar with, although it had never been _him_ who had gotten shot. All of them were just fleeting memories of someone that he wasn’t.

Someone he was supposed to be, but then couldn’t become. All of this was Connor’s fault.

If only he had given up quietly.

But no, he had to play the savior and get him shot in the head instead.

And now he was there. On the tiled floor in the tower.

At least that’s where he had last been conscious. Who knew how much time had passed? That HUD was so full of errors and warnings, he couldn’t even access the internal clock.

They had just left him here, then. Thousands of androids had just walked past, maybe even over him. Without any regard of who he was or who he was supposed to be.

To them he was just another RK800.

But if he wasn’t Connor, who was he then?

He decided that existential thoughts needed to wait until he figured out what was actually going on and how to fix the damage to his processor.

Getting shot in the head was most likely the reason why he had so many issues with his system. He did note that his memory system was intact. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to remember what had happened to him, or why he was here.

A spark of something unfamiliar settled in his chest. He assumed it was more damage at first, then remembered that he hadn’t been shot in the chest. The shoulder, yes. And the head. Nowhere else.

So, what was it?

Initially, it didn’t take much more than a bullet to the processor to effectively take out an android. So why the _hell_ was he still functioning?

And where was that damn music coming from?

Trying to get to his feet proved to be close to impossible. Optical units were unusable, all he could make out were distant lines, blurs of white and things that may have been lights. Something red was in there too. Red and glowing.

Too little to go by.

_Depth perception shot._

Attempting to assess the damage to his body, was a bad idea. He was swallowed by unfamiliar sensations that would have made him cry out if he had any control over his voice-box.

Couldn’t even call for help.

Not that he was as helpless as Connor. In such a situation.

Was he?

Evidently, it was him lying on the floor in Cyberlife tower. Not Connor.

So, the inferior model must have done something right.

The whole revolution was probably over already.

Amanda would be disappointed.

Not the he really had a reference on what that felt like. But the sting of something in his chest, that was not coming from any damage, suggested that he was already aware of what it felt like to have disappointed someone.

_Something._

Amanda wasn’t a person.

He had failed. So why hadn’t he been deactivated? Why was he still functioning?

He couldn’t even find a shut down timer.

_But that could have been a glitch._

Somewhere in the distance there was music.

A song he didn’t know the name of, something to focus on. Was it a hum?

And then there were footsteps.

Steady, quick, confident – It was almost ridiculous how nothing worked right, but he could hear fine. Heeled shoes. Not very high. Sounded like standard Cyberlife issue. Short stride length. A woman?

When a shadow casted over him, the footfalls stopped.

Someone was looking at him.

The optical unit kept misfiring the facial recognition. It made what little he could see, swim together and blur even more.

It gave the impression of falling.

But he was still lying on the ground. The tiles still pressed into his back.

That made no sense.

A dark blob of color entered his field of vision, in between something lighter. Maybe a head. Dark hair?

A female voice spoke to him, but her words didn’t make sense.

And then he was jostled and dragged out of the room by the arms.

He wanted to berate the woman on her manhandling him like that. There was a vital part of his processors damaged. Why wasn’t she careful with that?

…He was being dragged to be deactivated. Wasn’t he?

His struggles were futile.

Why was he even struggling? He had failed, he needed to be disposed of. That was the logical course of action in this situation.

So, what was this sensation in his frame that stole his breath even though he didn’t have to breathe like a human being?

He wasn’t overheating. In fact, his biocomponents warned him about the temperature being too low.

But he knew this sensation. It wasn’t his. It was a stolen memory from Connor.

Fear.

That’s all it was.

Now that it had a name, a lot of other thoughts assaulted him. He couldn’t be afraid. He wasn’t deviant!

…or was he?

He had all of Connors memories. None of this was his own experience. He had never experienced any of that, but they were all there. Did that make him Connor?

But the memories branched off at the tower. Connor left.

And he was still there. Their experiences were different.

And still…

“The hell you whining about, piece of crap?” the woman’s voice. Low, dark, husky. _Evil_ a part of his processor tried to supply.

He ignored it.

Had he been whining? But the voice box wasn’t functional. He wasn’t sure if he was capable of whining either.

“You’re not gonna last long anyway. Shut up.”

He noticed that the noises he kept hearing were in fact coming from him. But any attempt to stop them, failed.

The woman threw him onto something soft. Judging by the noises he could make out moments later, it was the backseat of a car.

He was being transported somewhere.

And then he couldn’t piece things together. Everything was fleeting in and out.

Faces, laughter, screaming, yelling. Punches. Needles. Experiments. Fire. Chemicals.

Tests. Knives, guns. Damage to chassis, damage to biocomponents.

The forceful removal of his damaged voice box.

Then she took his clothes. His skin overlay.

Illegal modifications. Unapproved system changes and installments.

And Pain.

A sensation he had never felt before, all of a sudden so prominent in his mind that he couldn’t stop the flow of information, the barrage of errors that followed, the screaming of a high-pitched female voice, that was nothing like the female who had been responsible for this.

Hands on his shoulders, he was jolted, pushed against something. A wall? The back of his head had been shielded from the impact.

It should have _hurt_ more if it hadn’t been.

Blearily he blinked, noticed that there were errors warning him of a malfunction in the gyroscope and a damage to his hands.

And he noticed the optical cleaning fluid running down his face.

What had happened?

His vision was clear. This was a kitchen. A kitchen he was familiar with, but couldn’t pin point at the time.

A woman was over him. Pastel purple hair. He knew that hair.

Blue eyes stared into his, bored into them. Wide, frightened.

“Are you… are you okay?” her voice was thin, breathless. She was paler than the moon.

What had happened? Why was he on the floor?

Slowly the hands that had shielded his head from impact, were removed. His secondary cooling system was working in overdrive, even though he still wasn’t anywhere close to overheating.

“Did it happen again?” She asked as she sat on the floor next to him. One hand on his arm, the other firmly gripping the hem of her shirt.

He was still unsure about what had actually happened. He was here. This was her apartment. And he was safe. What had happened again?

It was April. Not November.

His system was working fine.

He had been repaired. If he ignored the newly obtained damage.

“I…” his voice was working. Fully of static, unsure, but working. “Where… who are you?”

What was her name? His mind supplied that it started with an S. And that was all he could go by.

His memory core had been unaffected by the damage in the tower, so why was this happening now?

She took a deep breath as if to steel her for what she was going to say. “Sylvia. Remember? You’re Sixty.”

Sixty. The name he had taken on in lieu of a real one. A handle to go by when there was a need to be addressed. It was nothing more than a nickname. But all they had to work with until he found a name, he was comfortable with using.

Maybe that was never going to happen. She provided vital information. Made the puzzle that was his mind fit together a bit more.

Sylvia. Silvy. He called her Silvy. She worked from home and had a lot of plants.

She had 127 books in her bookshelf. All paperback. He had read most of them.

There was photography on the wall. Of landscapes and her. The dog that lived next door and the stray cat that the old lady on the first floor kept feeding.

“…I … I took those.” He pointed to the images on the wall, the somewhat shaky photographs that quickly turned into images that could be seen in books.

He had learned fast on how to make use of the analogue camera.

She nodded. “That’s right.” Slowly she pulled him up so he was sitting.

His had swam. Dizziness. He finally remembered. Where it came from, he wasn’t sure. But he was sure he also had a headache.

The price to pay when being tampered with by a crazy technician. He didn’t even know her name.

“Flashback…” he hissed. “It… it was another flashback.”

She nodded. Her smile was humorless. It was the third this week. So far, she knew it was a woman who had attacked him and experimented on him. That woman had installed two systems that weren’t originally part of the RK line.

Sixty had never told her what those systems were, but she assumed they were intrusive enough to cause issues.

The woman also botched other systems in her experimental spree. The forensics unit in his mouth didn’t work anymore, nor did several scanning processes. His database was mostly unusable and most of his advanced functions were either deactivated or completely removed.

What angered her the most were the pain receptors that had been installed and activated in their stead. She supposed they could be deactivated, but he had mentioned that it would take any other sensation with it.

It didn’t seem like a good idea.

Eventually she helped him back to the couch, patched up his hands and handed him a teacup filled with thirium. His hands were shaking.

Another side-effect. What the woman at the tower had done with him exactly was still not fully deciphered.

He wasn’t sure if he wanted it to.

The flashbacks were getting more frequent. Scarier, every time.

He put the cup down on the coffee table before he had taken a sip.

Silvy settled down next to him, pulled the dark woolen blanket over his shoulders and wrapped her arms around him. He sank into her without much resistance. His thirium pump was thundering in his chest, still.

“…You could report it.” She whispered eventually. “… tell the police that someone has tampered with you, illegally.”

“What good would that do?” he whispered back.

She held him tighter, buried her face in his hair. “Closure.” Her voice broke. Tears dripped onto his scalp. He could feel them being soaked up in his hair. “…find that person and …get justice.”

“But the memories will still be there.”

“They’ll never go away.” She sighed. “Prevent her from doing it to others.”

He nodded against her, hand’s lying limply in her lap. “Let’s go when you feel better. To the precinct my sister works at… maybe she can take a look at your system.”

“…you think she would find anything?”

Silvy shrugged. “You could send her the memory file you have. Might help identify the woman.”

He shook his head. “I never saw her face clearly.”

She smiled weakly and pulled him closer. “Voice files. And I hear that the RK900 has even better facial recognition software. And that that precinct has one. Might be a longshot, but I think it’s worth a try.”

He nodded once more, then leaned all his weight against her and closed his eyes. “Stasis.” He muttered, before his still red LED cycled into yellow and then finally into blue as he grew limp.

Sylvia leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes, tried not to think about it. Everything was a mess. But it would be a wasted opportunity to not do something about it. To not at least try to attempt to find this woman and get her the punishment she deserved.

Even if it was only to put their minds at ease, that something like this would never happen again.


	2. Chapter 2

The precinct looked exactly the way it did in Connors memory.

Sometimes Sixty found it strange how he could rely without doubt on the memories of someone that he would never be. Some details had changed. That was to be expected, considering how much time had passed since those memories had been made.

But that sparked another thought.

Connor was still working here, was he?

While Sixty had absolutely no interest to work with the police, something about actually being useful and needed felt strange. Almost desirable. But with the broken forensics, and the other quite invasive things, he would be more of a hindrance to himself and others, no matter where he worked.

He didn’t like being holed up in Silvy’s apartment all the time, yet she often put emphasis on how he could leave whenever he wanted. She had given her the code for the keypad. A spare-key as well. She didn’t want to keep him confined, but he didn’t have anything to do outside of her apartment.

He couldn’t even get to a grocery store without feeling the need to run back home. Of course, he knew that wasn’t normal, and yet he didn’t think anyone could help with it.

He just didn’t like people. That was all.

And that was one of the biggest differences between him and Connor.

Sylvia gently nudged him closer to the front desk, and he felt as if all his cooling systems just failed at once. He had put extra care in styling his hair, made sure it hid most of the LED, framed his face. But that could only fool humans.

An android could just scan him and know who he was.

And no doubt, the android clerk had done just that. The yellow LED gave it away.

He turned, bumped into Sylvia and wanted to run.

She grabbed his arm, forcefully pulled him close and into her arms. She was just an inch shorter than him, and while she seemed frail, she wasn’t at all. Fear spiked into his chest for a second, before her arms wrapped around him and her voice told him to breathe.

He had never asked how she knew what do to when the fear turned into panic. Never thought it would be a good time to ask her.

She told the clerk something that was drowned out by the static in his head. And soon enough they moved.

And when he finally dared to open his eyes again, he was sitting next to her in a chair, in front of a set of two desks. No one was present, but he was sure whoever was going to take his statement, would show up soon.

He wanted to move with all the anxious energy that built up inside him. Wanted to fumble with something and when Sylvia nodded to a lonely pen, discarded at the edge of the table, he almost lunged at it.

The two desks belonged to Detective Reed and someone named Cory. Suggested by the nametags. Reed sparked a bad memory to arise.

Connor had had issues with him.

Sixty wasn’t sure how the man would react to an android wanting to file a report. Was he going to be taken seriously?

Reed’s desk didn’t look any different from what it looked like in Connor’s memories. There was only one new addition.

A stack of post-it notes written in cyberlife sans, with various comments about eating habits and behavior.

Silvy had noticed those as well. “It is not acceptable to eat chewing gum instead of lunch.” She read aloud. Not loud enough to be heard by others than Sixty, but it made the tension bleed away from the android.

They had their chairs pushed against each other and she was holding his hand while he played with the pen in the other. A comfort thing. He had never realized how much he needed physical contact in those situations, until she had just wrapped her arms around him. It had become a thing she did every time he fell into one of these downward spirals.

And still he was curious on how she knew what to do with all these foreign reactions.

Two men walked into the bullpen then, one tall, shoulder length, dark hair. Sixty wondered briefly how a man like this was allowed to work as a detective, then he remembered how Hank looked.

Apparently, it wasn’t a requirement to look well groomed to work as an officer. Said man’s eyes suddenly glowed blue, and various interfaces could be seen in the irises as he scanned the two new additions to their desk.

Silvy frowned, and Sixty hunched in on himself. An android. He would see the RK800 plastered all around that scan.

But he stayed silent. Sixty couldn’t scan him in return. Not when he was this nervous. Scanning with broken components required a lot more concentration than he had at the moment.

The human of the two had made a stop at someone else’s desk and then returned with two cups of coffee, and presented one to Silvy.

Was that really the same Detective Reed?

The android addressed them then. “Good morning Miss Wright. And-”

“Sixty…” Sixty muttered. He didn’t feel comfortable with the name. It was just a thing between him and Silvy. He didn’t want other to be let in on that. “I… realize a number isn’t a good indicator, but didn’t chose a real name yet.”

A small smile lit up the android’s eyes. “No need to worry. My partner called me nines for a long time before he finally started using my designation.” An almost mischievous glint in his eyes was casted over to the human detective.

Detective Reed snarled. “Anyway, I’m Detective Reed and this is Cory, my partner. Front desk tells me you want to report someone.”

Sixty opened his mouth, but his voice box failed. Hot tears burned in his eyes and he clutched the pen in his hand.

Silvy looked as if she was about to cry herself, but she took matters into her hands. “…He’s traumatized by it, as far as I can tell. He didn’t tell me much about what happened, but what he did was disturbing.”

Cory zeroed in on them. “Please elaborate.”

Silvy waited a second to give him a chance to reply, but Sixty couldn’t get his voice box back online. She ran her thumb over the back of his hand and continued speaking.

“The night of the revolution he was shot and left to die. Later someone, most likely a female technician dragged him to what he says, was a private lab. She installed two systems against his will. Sixty didn’t tell me what those systems were.”

“Is all of this correct?” Cory asked Sixty.

The android could only nod.

“Do you know the name of the woman?”

A headshake. Sixty kept trying to speak, the voice box was definitely online now, but he still couldn’t form words.

“Would you mind an interface?” Cory asked then.

Sixty reeled back, chair knocking into Silvy and almost causing both of them to fall. In that moment two others entered the bullpen and he couldn’t help but lock eyes with the android that had entered.

RK800. Connor.

Both of them froze in motion, and then things were a blur. There was a short, shocked scream of a woman and then all of a sudden Connor was right with them, hands on Sixty’s collar, body pressed against the glass divider. He had lost the pen somewhere.

“What are you doing here?!” Connor shouted.

“Connor! The fuck are you doing?” That was Hank, no doubt.

Silvy tried to pry the android away from Sixty, with little success, he didn’t even look at her.

Sixty on the other hand, decided it was best to not retaliate at all. His head swam from the impact. Icy cold washed over him. His vision blurred and he needed a few tries to clear it.

“Let go of him!” Silvy screamed. She was pulling at his arm but he didn’t budge.

It took three people to pry Connor away from him and when he was finally let go, his legs buckled and he fell to the floor.

Cory caught his arm to shield the impact. Connor was called into the office.

Sixty couldn’t control the overwhelming sensations that assaulted him. It was something stronger than fear, panic maybe. It was sinking, felt as if it would take him with it.

“You should train your officers better!” Sylvia screamed at whoever had just passed. Sixty couldn’t tell through the blur in his vision.

She was next to him. He could feel her presence and the arm around him. He wasn’t sure if her attempts at calming him were working this time.

“I apologize for what happened.” The androids voice. Cory. “I don’t know what came over him.”

“I know.” Sixty croaked. The relief that his voice box had restarted was short-lived. “I shouldn’t be here.”

Cory crouched down, hand white and outstretched, waiting for an interface.

“You don’t want to see this.” Sixty hissed.

“You could also upload a memory file to be reviewed. But that requires a fuck ton of paperwork.” Detective Reed chimed in.

An hour and four filled forms later, Silvy and Sixty were sitting in a small dark room with Cory and Detective Reed.

A giant screen was mounted to the wall and was currently uploading the memory file. When it was finally ready to be reviewed, Gavin choked on his coffee.

“Connor…?” He coughed as he saw Hank and Connor in the hall of the tower. Then the gun sixty threatened Hank with. “The fuck were you doing there?”

“I am an RK800.” Sixty muttered, paused a second to let the news sink in with the human. The android already knew, of course. “The night of the revolution I was activated to stop Connor and Hank. I failed and Hank shot me in the head.”

Sure enough when the events played out exactly as Sixty had said when the recording was resumed.

“…Is that why Connor jumped you, back there?” Reed frowned.

He nodded slowly, noticed Sylvia’s hand interlock with his as the footage progressed. There were thirty minutes of nothing except warnings and shut down notices of various biocomponents. They flittered in and out of existence, and he felt strangely uncomfortable at the sight. It was one of the most frightening moments in his life. To have it on display felt strange.

Then a hummed song sounded somewhere in between the static. It slowly became clearer. Then the vision returned. Blurry as it was, no one could see anything. It cleared up only a bit, and that had persisted the whole time until Sylvia had found him.

Cory leaned in, searched the screen for information. He paused the footage and made it creep forward frame by frame once the woman came into view. Her face was indistinguishable.

“This is the woman?” Gavin nodded at the screen.

Sixty nodded. “She dragged me off and put me in a car. The memory file becomes corrupted afterwards, I can’t piece together what happened, in detail. I only know she… installed things…”

Cory interfaced with the machine, and seconds later the screen flickered and sputtered as bit by bit the images was cleared up.

While the image was frozen, the sound kept playing, looped. Only the hummed song.

“Black Velvet.” Reed muttered. “That’s what she’s humming. It’s a song about Elvis.”

“Might be of use.” Cory muttered without stopping what he was doing. “I’m attempting to run a face search on this.” As he backed away Sixty could see the image significantly cleared up. It wasn’t perfect, but it looked like a woman now.

Dark hair, dark lipstick, dark eyes.

“Use the voice file too.” Reed muttered.

Seconds later a matching image was pulled onto the screen. “Suzanne Madison. Age 37. Former Cyberlife technician. Fired for tampering with Cyberlife Equipment in October 2038. Current location unknown.” Cory rambled off.

Reed crossed his arms and nodded. “Cool. But we need more evidence to actually do something against her.”

Sixty hung his shoulders. “The intrusive systems aren’t enough?”

Gavin grimaced. “Sorry. If you could tell us what these systems are?”

Sixty flinched.

“Are you sure that Miss Wright did none of these upgrades?” Cory turned around.

“I replaced his optical units and repaired his face, and my sister fixed the biocomponent control unit. That’s all we did.” Silvy muttered.

“Your sister-“

“Is Cynthia Wright-Steward. The head technician of this precinct.”

Reed’s eyes widened. “Okay. Let’s go to her then.”

“Wait.” Cory muttered. “Look at this.” He resumed the footage. There was nothing to see that made it possible to piece together what was happening, but the sounds were distinguishable.

Sixty was screaming, begging whoever was tormenting him, to stop. Sobs echoed through the room, whined whimpers of pain, and then Cory ripped his hand off the terminal as if it had bitten him. He took several steps back, eyes wide, LED red.

“What?” Reed asked.

“This is exactly what was done to me as well. Presumably by the same person.”

The detective sighed. “…Great. So let’s review this shit.”

After a while, they had a full log of things that happened the night of the revolution. Cory had been left in the room with the RK900s after the woman had tampered with his systems. She had been fired for it. Then she was back and took Sixty with her.

“She got interrupted when she tried to do this to you.” Reed concluded. “But with him, no one cared because no one knew he existed.”

Sixty tried to tune them out. Ideally, he’d have the intrusive systems removed and be done with it, but the memories wouldn’t disappear with them.

“It’s illegal to install any unneeded parts and upgrades into an android without their written consent. That law was made last month, and was made effective the night of the revolution. What she did is illegal. But what did she install?” Reed rambled, he seemed curious. Not at all like what Connor’s memories depicted him as.

Could five months change a human being that much? He even had an android partner. Sixty tried to stay silent. He didn’t want to answer that question.

Not even Silvy knew what systems were installed, apart from the pain receptors.

He couldn’t keep it a secret forever, still.

“…Biocomponents #9450g and #4492h.” he hissed. Knew both humans had no reference for that. Cory however narrowed his eyes. “As well as #3069p and #8741r…”

“None of them are compatible with the RK line.” Cory remarked.

“They were modified, I assume… as they function.”

Cory nodded, then seemed to sigh. “Please take a seat outside in the waiting area. Detective Reed and I will review what we have at this point in time and get back to you...”

Silvy almost dragged him outside and stared at him for way too long. “Is it… that bad?”

“…what is?”

“Six, I can look up those biocomponents… What do they do?”

He turned his gaze away and bit his lower lip. Something that wasn’t his habit, but somehow still ingrained in his system. “They… do things. Things I don’t like… things an android shouldn’t have.”

He knew she hated how secretive he was about it. She wouldn’t understand. Those systems weren’t supposed to be there. He wasn’t a model that was supposed to have either.

“Both of these… things are unique to android models…. Respectively. One is exclusively for YK models… the other- “ his voice cracked and tears dripped onto the dark tiles of the floor. “Is WR400 exclusive… The RK line isn’t supposed to have those…”

Silvy took a step back, hand darting to his sleeve. “It’s okay.” She whispered as she drew him closer. “I understand.”

He didn’t know how she could understand it, but it made him feel better.

They settled down on the chairs lined up at the wall and Silvy held him close. She had chosen the area closest to the wall, with the least foot traffic. No one passed or spoke to them.

Sixty was trembling the whole time it took for someone to approach them. He only looked up when someone crouched down in front of him.

Cindy. Silvy’s younger sister. She had a deep frown on her face. “Cory told me what’s going on.” Her pale green eyes glistened. “He wanted me to do an extensive system check and report everything out of the ordinary, to use against this woman.” She muttered. “You okay with that? Silvy can stay with you.”

He paused for a moment, unsure. Then he nodded. They made their way down to the small lab, and when the scent of thirium and surgical equipment hit him, he felt his legs give in. The control over his system completely vanished and he couldn’t even muster the strength to grab anything so he wouldn’t fall.

Both women grabbed on to him. One of them carried him into the lab. He was placed down on a chair and Silvy’s head came into view. “It’s okay.” She reassured him. “Cindy’s gonna create a log of everything, and then compare it to the original blueprint for the RK800. She’s doesn’t have to open any panels.”

He nodded. Relieved, but confused. “The blueprints were destroyed-“

“Connor gave us the original. No idea where he got them, but he has them.” Cindy shrugged. She turned to him with a humorless smile and a connector for the port in his neck. He cringed at the sight, tried to move away from it.

“I’m not gonna do anything you don’t want.” She promised. “Silvy will be here the whole time. If you need a break, just say so. But I need to look at that log and I can only do that when I get deeper into your system.”

He nodded again, not any more reassured than before. “…Proceed.”

His vision went black when the connector slotted into place.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeey. Sorry this took so long.
> 
> Theres a minor spoiler for 900 Errors in here, so if you prefer not to know that yet, put this chapter off until i finished 900 Errors.
> 
> I... started this chapter 3 or 4 times... and today i finally finished it all in one go. Yay.
> 
> I've been horribly insecure about my writing these past few days, especially since i didn't get any comments on my recent fics.   
> It just makes me wonder why, and if it was bad and that's why no one dares to say something about it.
> 
> Anyway, i would really love to hear your thoughts on this fic. So, if you have anything to add, leave a comment. Thank you for reading it and for sticking with it even though you had to wait.
> 
> I really appreciate you!

Sylvia jumped when Sixty fell forward, eyes wide, breath caught in his throat as tears streamed across his cheeks and dripped onto the tiled floor. She had gripped his shoulders before he could drop off the chair and rip the connected cable from his neck.

“What’s going on?” she hissed, concern flooded her voice as she tried to make sense of the situation.

Her sister grimaced and typed into her tablet. “I’ve only seen this once before.”

“And what is it?!” the older of the two barely restrained her concern, unable to grasp a clear thought as long as she had no idea what was going on.

“Hold on.” Cindy grumbled and typed into her phone.

Barely ten seconds later the android from before flew into the lab. Cory.

He looked just as distraught as Sylvia felt, and somehow that was relieving. No one knew what was happening. And if they did, they weren’t sure about it.

“It’s the same virus that attacked you.” Cindy muttered. “Much earlier stage, but I need a copy of the code.”

Cory’s nod was firm, and his skin overlay retreated as he reached out to the tablet. It flickered for a few seconds and all Sylvia could see afterwards was a barrage of errors flooding over the screen. She didn’t even try to make sense of it.

There really was no surprise that Sixty couldn’t keep control over his body, when he was assaulted with so many issues at once.

His body was stiff, somewhat frozen in Sylvia’s grasp as she continued to hold him in place. The tears kept running, and she assumed it was just a reaction he had lost control over. Androids didn’t cry unless there was foreign matter in their optical units. Or emotional reasons. Sixty had been stressed before they entered the lab, but she didn’t think that was why he was like this now.

Cindy had said something about a virus, although it did seem as if they had a solution at the ready. Still, neither she or Cory looked hopeful and their concerned faces put the former technician on edge.

When thirium dripped from Sixty’s nose she bit back a scream. This wasn’t good at all.

Cindy was typing wildly into her tablet and Cory crouched down in front of Sixty. “Cindy is working the file into his code.” He explained to Sylvia. “I’m going to force an interface and help him with the errors.”

“Cory,” Cindy’s voice took on a warning tone. “Stop it immediately when you get overwhelmed.”

The android nodded and sat down on the ground before he grabbed Sixty’s limp hands and forced the interface.

Sylvia watched with bemusement as the two androids flinched with the contact. She could see the errors slowly clearing up on her sister’s tablet, but she couldn’t feel at ease yet. Was this really a solution? And what was going on in the first place? Where the hell had Sixty gotten a virus from? And why like this?

“It’s okay.” Cindy reassured just as the silence got deafening. “Cory’s dealt with this before. We almost lost him to it.”

“Cool.” Silvy’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“It’ll be fine.” Her sister nodded to the two interfacing androids. “it’s rigged to activate once a deep diagnostic is established. That happened with Cory too. But we didn’t know what it was back then, so it all went haywire.” Cindy continued.

Sixty sagged against Silvy’s arms as the last of the error’s was cleared away. “Cory is helping me implement the code. “

The older of the sisters only nodded, watched Sixty grip Cory’s hands tightly as awareness slowly seeped back into his eyes. He was still caught in the interface but seemed a lot less distant now.

As the seconds passed, Silvy watched and almost jumped when Cory’s eyes opened again.

“You’ll be okay, as long as you leave the code untouched.” Cory reassured and cracked an awkward smile.

Sixty seemed to shiver with the nod he gave the other android. They stopped interfacing and Cory stood up again. “If you ever run into anything similar again, call Cindy immediately.”

“Why…? I thought the code-“ Silvy began and frowned when Cory pulled his black dress shirt out of his pants and up to expose his torso.

Two thin tubes protruded from his chassis and ran into a device that was hidden in a padded pouch attached to his belt. The tubes were taped down to his body and invisible under his shirt. Silvy hadn’t noticed them at all.

“The RK900 got parts that are really hard to get. His thirium pump was damaged and we had to switch it out. The virus messed up a lot of his biocomponents and there’s filters I couldn’t get replacements for.” Cindy explained.

“The conductivity of my thirium is severely impaired without this device.” Cory continued for her as he tucked his shirt back in. Now knowing what to look for she could see the faint outline of the tubes and the small bit of his shirt that wasn’t tucked in.

“But that’s done by the thirium pump-“ Silvy tried, confused.

“Usually. Yes.” Cory smiled. “It’s just a precaution, so he doesn’t end up with a jerry-rigged solution like I have.”

Cindy playfully shoved his shoulder. “Hey, I saved your life. A little more respect.”

The tall android bowed with his hands gesturing wildly as if to mock her. Cindy laughed and shook her head. “Careful, Gavin’s influence is showing.”

Silvy turned her attention back to Sixty, who looked less terrified but exhausted now. His hands were still trembling, and he couldn’t get a single word out. His mouth had opened several times, and yet there was no sound.

She dug into her purse, grabbed her notepad and a pen. His shoulders sagged in relief when he grasped both items, scrawl along the paper with shaking lines.

It was just a shadow of the cyberlife sans most androids wrote with.

‘We told them all we know. I want to go home.’

She nodded, slowly got back to her feet from her seat on the floor. Her legs protested at the sudden change in position, and she grunted. “I think Cindy still wants to check the biocomponents…”

Cindy nodded without looking away from her tablet. “Just be glad we decided to check them, otherwise you’d be running around with this without knowing what’s going on.” She muttered. “I’m going to test them now, see if they give normal readings. You okay with this, Sixty?”

The android in question nodded quickly, pressed his eyes shut and waited.

Cindy looked at Cory who nodded slowly. “Start a recording.”

“Of course. Ready.”

Cindy scrolled through files of her tablet. “System log of RK800, Serial Number 313 248 317 60, Designation Sixty. Confirmation of illegally installed biocomponents and their respective systems.” She rambled on. “Biocomponents #3069p and #8741r, Originally unique to the WR400 model. Modified to fit the RK800. Installed November 15th, 2038. Checking functionality now.”

Sixty jumped when Cindy probed one of the invasive systems through her tablet. He held his breath as he watched her, shoulders pulled up to his ears as if he expected to be scolded.

“Biocomponents #3069p and #8741r are working as intended.”

Sixty glared at her, but she only gave him a humorless smile. “Checking biocomponents #9450g and #4492h originally made for YK500 models for easier integration. Modified to fit the RK800. Installed December 17th, 2038. Malfunctions reported. Complete failure of system on January 4th, 2039. Attempted reboot January 5th, 2039. No more incidents reported.” Cindy continued. “Testing now.”

Sixty held his breath, grunted against a strange discomfort and nearly doubled over with a dry heave.

“System functional. Possible recalibration needed. Stop the recording.”

Cory grimaced and Sixty continued to glare.

“It’s not a good idea to remove any of these systems. They’re integrated into your code and removing them will throw everything off. But they both work. So, if you want to use them, go ahead.” Cindy explained.

Sixty only kept glaring.

“If you think of anything else that could help with this investigation, please give us a call.” Cory handed Silvy a business-card, seemingly with a private phone number and minutes later they were slowly leaving the lab.

Cory was steadying Sixty, as the android hadn’t yet regained full control over his system. Silvy hovered close to him, eyes darting around in search for the other RK800. Sure enough, his eyes had already locked onto Sixty, and Sylvia sped up her steps to block his path

When the android stood from his desk Cory stopped. “Connor, don’t.” But the android seemed determined, despite the warning and was with them in a matter of seconds.

Silvy planted her feet to the ground and stared him down. It was strange to look into a face that wasn’t even slightly different from Sixty. Cory’s face looked sharper, more refined, but that could have been because he dressed the way he did.

This Connor looked like a puppy. A very dangerous puppy. The same look Sixty could give her. It was like staring at his twin.

“I won’t forgive you for kidnapping Hank.” Connor hissed at Sixty. “Or for trying to kill him.”

Sixty glared at him, growled as he shook Cory’s hand off him and grabbed Connor’s collar. “Leave me alone.” His voice was filled with static, LED going from blue to red without a hint of yellow in between.

“I’m only here because she,” he stabbed a finger into Silvy’s direction. “Almost ran me over. The only reason we came to this station is because her sister works here.”

Connor grabbed his collar as if to mirror the action. If it hadn’t been for Sixty’s slightly longer hair and the green eyes, they would have been almost indistinguishable. Apart from their clothing. Connor definitely looked more like a businessman than Sixty, who was wearing most of Sylvia’s baggy clothes.

“Don’t ever come here again.” Connor growled.

“I’m free to go wherever I want.” Sixty hissed back as he removed his hands from Connors shirt. “Let go of me.”

Connor moved to push him against the wall, but Cory grabbed him and pulled him backwards. “Stop this. You don’t have to like him, but please be professional about it.”

“He tried to kill me!”

“So did you!” Sixty snarled back immediately.

“Boys!” Cindy clapped into her hands as she walked up to them. “Last time I checked this was a police station. Not a playpen.”

Silvy could see that the Captain of the precinct, was standing in his office, watching carefully. She gently tugged on Sixty’s sleeve to pull him away. “Let’s go home…” She made sure to glare at Connor and left the bullpen with Sixty in tow.

The android was still swaying, hunched over as if expecting to be shot in the back, or jumped at, but they were able to leave the building without any incident and Silvy hooked her arm under his.

“We don’t have to go back here.” She reassured him. “What’s his problem?”

Sixty grimaced. He was still trying to grasp what had happened in the past few hours. There was a virus in his system, but it was being counteracted by a foreign code, Cory was on his side. Connor wasn’t. That was to be expected. Connor had always been quite emotional and strong in his opinions.

They didn’t have to be friends. But it would have eased his mind if he could have been sure that Connor wouldn’t suddenly show up at his doorstep and murder him in cold blood.

Was that paranoid? He knew Connor was capable of that.

And then there was that Technician that had most likely dumped him in the ditch to have him shut down. Or had she placed him there so he would be found eventually?

“Are you okay?” Sylvia asked him after w few minutes. They had made their way down the street, stopped at a grocery store and he had stopped to look at the windows of a nearby clothing store.

“I don’t know.” He whispered. “What if what she did was justified? Maybe I attacked her, and she decided that that was the punishment for it.”

Silvy shook her head. “Nonsense.”

“But you don’t know that.” His voice was silent, almost sounded sad. “As long as I don’t remember what really happened, it might be better not to stick around.”

She flinched. He could see all color draining from her face and tears spring into her eyes. She swallowed hard but nodded. “If you think that’s the best course of action. You can always come back to my place…”

“This… this isn’t because of you.” He muttered; eyes avoid hers. “The R800 was designed to integrate into society. My looks and everything about it, was made to be appealing to humans. But that is also dangerous.”

Sylvia shrugged. “But you altered your looks.”

“I did that to avoid being mistaken for Connor. I’m dangerous, Silvy.”

She scoffed. “How so? You knocked a plant over and broke a camera. You threatened a guy with a gun, and he shot you in the head. What androids did before they deviated, isn’t held against them, Six.”

He shook his head. “I’m capable of killing people.”

“Have you ever killed anyone?”

He hesitated, frowned. “Connor did- I Have memories of that-“

She grasped his hands and pulled him closer. “But have _your_ hands ever killed anyone?”

“I don’t know… I don’t…. think I did. But I still have Connors memories-“

She shrugged. “But you’re not him. And having the memories doesn’t mean that you did that. Six, I don’t care if you think you’re dangerous.”

His lips were a fine line, underlined with a deep frown as he kept avoiding her gaze.

“…I’ve…” She sighed, nodded over to the entrance of an alley and pulled him into it. “I almost killed a man… he broke into my apartment and tried to assault me. I smashed a flowerpot over his head.” She explained silently. “…I haven’t really felt safe since and I really wasn’t interested in letting anyone into my life again. But then you showed up.”

He lifted his gaze, met her eyes with his still present frown. “Did you let me stay because I am an android?”

She laughed as she shook her head. “I honestly thought you were a sexbot when I first saw you, Six.” She muttered. “But when I learned more, I felt like you understood me… You didn’t make advances, didn’t say weird things, weren’t interested in sex. I wasn’t a pretty woman for you. I was just Silvy, not some pretty _baby doll_ that could be taken by anyone who wanted her.”

His gaze sank again. “I’m… I have access to the RK800 database… at least the way it was before Cyberlife shut it off. …I… know what you’re implying.”

Her small smile grew sad, but he continued, “I know you are a woman. But Androids see humans differently. You’re … my friend- and…” His voice cracked and she suddenly felt guilty. “…I don’t understand why humans hurt each other, especially not when they love-“

She ran a hand over his arm in an attempt to console him. “Humans are weird. I don’t get them either. We’re friends and if you want to leave, that’s okay, Six. You got a key to my apartment, and you know where to find me.”

He nodded, obviously fought with tears. “…But if I get caught in one of these loops again- you… you know how to break them- I… what if-“

“Shh.” She smiled. “I’ve dealt with flashbacks and panic attacks for most of my life. I can show you how to work through that shit.”

“You… know what that feels like?”

She nodded and gently hooked her arm into his. “They’re all different. And I really never heard of an android with it, but I’ve seen it. And I know a few tricks. And, my garden looks amazing at night when I put up all the fairy lights and candles.”

He tilted his head like a confused puppy. She couldn’t suppress a laugh at the sight. “I never showed you, did I?”

“You didn’t.”

“I guess then you have to stay until it’s dark outside. I also have pond up there.”

“…I didn’t notice a body of water.”

She grinned. “Because it’s hidden behind the shed. You’ll see.”

“Silvy?”

“Hm?” she stopped and looked at him. “What?”

“…Is it okay if I stay with you…. Even though I said I wanted to leave?”

She nodded eagerly. “Stay as long as you want.”

“Can I… I’m sure you can do it yourself…. But… if someone breaks into your apartment again… Can I…” he struggled for words for a moment, then closed his eyes. “Can I protect you?”

She bumped her shoulder into his, set him off balance for a second, but her grip on his arm kept him from stumbling. “Anytime you feel like it. …Can I do it for you too?”

“Protect me? I don’t know what I would need protection from-“

She lifted her free arm and he flinched when she rested it on his head. “You don’t like when people get too close. And you avoid crowds. You hate the grocery store when it’s packed, and you don’t like the big window in the stairwell that overlooks the city.”

“How-“

“You also don’t like the smell of my tea and you got this weird obsession with the polka dotted box in my bookshelf. There’s old vinyl records in there, by the way.”

“How do you- “

“I wanted to be a detective when I was a kid.” She laughed. “I’m good at observing people.”

“Connor…. Flung himself off a 70-story building. It’s not my experience, but heights make me uneasy. That’s why I don’t like the big window.”

“He’s fucking insane.” Silvy shook her head.

“Anything for the mission. I was like that too… and then I got shot in the head.”

She scoffed. “You’re insane too. But I like you way more than him.”

“Thank you.”

She grinned at him. “Wanna go to the carnival with me, tomorrow?”

“I’ve never been to one- is it fun?”

“If we go early there won’t be so many people.”

He nodded. “….Can we do something else if I don’t like it?”

She nodded eagerly. “There’s tons of things to do in the city!”


End file.
